Fall showdown in court on Mich. gay marriage ban

Marge Eide, right, stands next to Ann Sorrell, her partner of 40 years, as she speaks at a rally to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings made on gay marriage earlier in the day, Wednesday, June 26, 2013 in the Kerrytown section of Ann Arbor, Mich. Michigan's ban on gay marriage remains intact after a pair of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, though opponents may have picked up new arguments to challenge the state's voter-approved law, experts said Wednesday. (AP Photo/AnnArbor.com, Courtney Sacco)

Judge Bernard Friedman set the date Wednesday in what could be a ground-breaking lawsuit filed by two Detroit-area nurses who are lesbians.

Jayne Rowse and April DeBoer and three adopted children live under one roof in Hazel Park. But Michigan law bars the women from jointly adopting each other's kids.

At the judge's suggestion, the lawsuit was expanded last year to also challenge a 2004 constitutional amendment that recognizes marriage in Michigan as only between a man and a woman. Rowse and DeBoer say the amendment and the adoption law violate their rights.

Friedman recently turned down the state's request to dismiss the lawsuit.

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